3D printed extraction devices in the analytical laboratorya case study of Soxhlet extraction

Abstract

[eng] 3D printing was introduced in the 1980s but only now has gained widespread acceptance among practitioners because of (i) the friendlier software interfaces for digital computer-assisted designs (CAD), and the ensuing computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) of the 3D object; (ii) availability of low-cost custom-grade printers; and (iii) the advantages that present against milling or other classical subtractive technologies, that is, enables complicated geometries to be easily designed in a single step, generates minimum residues, and allows fast prototyping. Chemists have followed this trend and incorporated 3D printers in their research laboratories and lecture halls, demonstrating the possibilities of this technique in a plethora of academic publications.